Part X – Memories

Napoleon tried to remember the stories that April and Mark had told about Howlin' Mad. The way they claimed that the man could fly sounded like – pardon the pun – flights of fancy. April had said the man could make a helicopter do the cha-cha if he was so inclined. And would sing the song to go along with the dance in the process.

That image was hard to connect with the man sitting at the same table as him, methodically forcing pasta down his throat. He was worried about his friend. Napoleon knew exactly how he felt. Murdock was also talking a good bit, but Napoleon wasn't sure that even Murdock realized it. The topics were rather like buckshot, hitting random topics. He did end up smiling slightly as the remark about Illya preferring dumplings to flowers came up. That did sound like his partner's sense of humor. But then it also reminded him about the food in front of him and if Murdock hadn't eaten before this?

A quick question confirmed that Illya hadn't eaten yet either. With his partner's almost ridiculously fast metabolism, that could get to be a problem. He remarked back to Murdock, but he was on auto-pilot as he tried to remember when the last time they'd eaten was. The plate was pushed back – he simply couldn't force anything else down.

"Illya does love his food."

When he noticed Murdock seemed at the same point, Napoleon called for the check. Exiting, he wasn't too surprised that Murdock didn't know the area well. By the earlier ramblings, he knew that Murdock hadn't even been in the area for six hours. Well, welcome to Los Angeles. The Tourist Bureaus never warn about things like this.

The car that Murdock led the way to was a nice one. No keys, but Napoleon certainly wasn't inclined to let that slow things down. Besides, Murdock was worried about abandoning his friend's car in the restaurant's parking lot. Faceman - well, as nicknames went, Napoleon had certainly heard worse. He had long since noted that even some otherwise loving parents saddled their kids with nicknames that verged on abuse. He got the car started with no difficulty and was soon following Murdock's directions back to the hotel. For a man that had only been this route once and from the opposite direction, Murdock's navigation was perfect.

The nervous laugh when they reached their destination and parked concerned Napoleon a bit. Well, he supposed could understand that too. Murdock was about to report to some of his teammates that another one was missing as well as being in unknown circumstances and conditions. Reaching over, he laid his hand on Murdock's shoulder and gave him as reassuring of a smile as he could manage to remind him that he wasn't here alone.

"Come on, kid. Let's go introduce me to your teammates."

Quirking a slightly less nervous grin, Murdock gave a nod.

"You said you served in Korea, right? Well, at least that's something you have in common with Hannibal."

Taking a deep breath, Murdock made a beeline for one of the rooms and did a rhythmic knock. Apparently that was something the men on the inside were used to. The door opened without hesitation. As well as without using the peephole first, it seemed.

"Why can't you ever just knock like a norm-"

Belatedly, it occurred to Napoleon that he should have asked Murdock what his teammates looked like. The burly black man with the interesting haircut, feather earring and other jewelry wasn't anyone that he would have even vaguely imagined with Murdock. But his attention was caught more by the other man in the room that had gone on alert when the one opening the door stopped speaking. He was going for a gun.

That move apparently didn't escape Murdock either. Before the situation escalated any further, Murdock positioned his own body very deliberately in front of Napoleon.

"Easy there, muchachos. He may not exactly be on our side, but right now we're all sort of on the same side."

"That don't make a lick o' sense, you crazy Fool."

"It will once I explain, B.A. Colonel? Please, sir? Faceman's in danger and so's this man's friend."

"Are you sure of him, Captain?"

"Enough that I'll go with him whether you do or not, sir. Remember my 'out of country' runs?"

"That 'need to know only' stuff? I remember. What about them?"

"It's a pair of the folks that were on those missions with me that vouch for him, Colonel. And they had my back. I'd trust them to do that again any day of the week."

Napoleon found his focus on the tiger on the back of the leather jacket again. Da Nang 1970. One thing that April and Mark certainly hadn't lied about in their stories - whatever else he might or might not be, this Howlin' Mad character was no coward.

The pause lasted another two beats, then the man pulled a cigar from his pocket.

"Well, don't just stand in the doorway with him all night, Captain. Show him in."

Murdock stepped in and to the side to allow Napoleon in, then shut the door. Then Murdock shot Napoleon a quick mischievous looking grin.

"Guys? Remember me regaling you with the exploits of my spy days?"

The burly man that had opened the door groaned at that.

"Aw man - you ain't gonna start telling more of those crazy fool stories about your aunt, are you?

Napoleon got a glare from the man himself when he started to chuckle and spoke up.

"That would be U.N.C.L.E., not aunt."

"He's right, B.A. Know your acronyms, I always say."

"Listen, mister - don't encourage his crazy."

Holding up his hand, Napoleon looked over to the Colonel.

"Gentlemen? If I may be permitted to access my jacket pockets?"

"Please do."

It certainly wasn't something that he ever used much, but it was occasionally handy. The actual card was concealed inside of another card as casual use of it was frowned upon, but this wasn't a casual situation. After pulling it free, Napoleon offered the identification card over.

The man took it, looked at it and then looked at it again.

"I'll be damned - there really is an U.N.C.L.E.?"

"United Network Command for Law and Enforcement. We're a multi-national team."

"If I may? Hannibal? B.A.? This is Napoleon Solo. Napoleon? This is Hannibal and B.A. Oh? And Colonel, sir? The two that I mentioned earlier? They'll be joining us by morning."

"Captain? Cut to the chase. How did you get involved and what happened to Face?"

"Right - quick version. The restaurant Face wanted to go to was really crowded so we had to share a table and Illya -"

"Illya?"

"My partner. Illya Kuryakin."

"Sounds - Russian?"

"That would be due to him being a Russian, Colonel. He's a real nice guy though. Any way, he was the one we ended up sharing a table with. We were all having a nice chat waiting for Napoleon here to show up -"

"You were late?"

"No - B.A., isn't it? I was actually arriving a little early."

"ANY way - everything kind of went flooey when this really nice looking woman came walking up and started speaking to Face. And she -"

Murdock suddenly stopped speaking. Napoleon turned his head and noted the dazed look in the man's eyes. When Murdock spoke again, he didn't take up where he left off.

"Oh hell."

All three pairs of eyes were fixed on the pilot now.

"Colonel? I think I may have seen that woman before. In Croatia. Working for the other side."